The Underground begin to get a sense of just how far Sentinel Services and their allies will go in their fight against them. Meanwhile, Reed must face his long-estranged father to try and find some answers.

After what felt like a slightly lacklustre last instalment, the show turns everything up to eleven in what is easily one of the standout episodes to date. At the very end of last episode, we learned that Trask Industries was being mentioned among the data recovered from Baton Rouge, and that Reed’s own father had once worked there. With the noose drawing tighter on the Underground, any lead is worth pursuing, so Johnny and Reed go to meet the old guy and see what they can find out.

Meanwhile, an incident occurs which leads the Underground to have a real chance at questioning one of the mutants who has been turned against their own kind by Dr Campbell and his programme. All they need to do is find a way to get through to them first. This will involve the still-bickering Lorna and Marcos working together with others to try and get what they need.

Elsewhere, Clarice is still annoyed at Dreamer for what she did, but finds herself distracted by a very young new arrival at the Underground. The plight of the poor child resonates with Clarice on more than one level, and it’s nice to see the character starting to get some honest to goodness development, following on from last week’s intriguing – if slightly clumsily handled – revelations. Mainly, it’s good to have Clarice back, for the Underground and the viewer.

Also, Caitlin gets some lovely character development this week, particularly in relation to an encounter with a telepath mutant. Caitlin is a hugely valuable member of the Underground now, and it’s nice to see her get a chance to acknowledge that fact and enjoy the feeling. She’s basically had her whole life turned upside down, but her instinct to help others always surges to the surface in times of danger. Occasionally she’s seemed in danger of becoming the exasperated mother to the Mutant Underground group, but here she really asserts her position as someone to be listened to and respected.

But the real meat here is between Reed and his father Otto. The confrontation between the two of them leads to more revelations about the Strucker family and their particular history. In keeping with the tone of the show, it’s executed well. What starts as an unpromising stonewall by Otto gradually develops as he breaks down and begins to reveal all to Reed. By the end of it, I think you’d need a heart of stone not to be wiping away a tear.

Tension is one of the key elements of this show, a tool that the writers use to great effect and nowhere better than here. As the episode reaches an explosive climax to rival any seen in its run so far, multiple characters are left reeling by what they have seen and learned, several have had to endure yet more personal loss, and the fate of the world seems very literally to now potentially hang in the balance.

Verdict: As suspected, last week proves to have been a mere blip in what has been an excellent show, as it delivers possibly its best instalment yet. Between the revelations, the action and the emotion, I challenge anyone to be dry eyed as the credits roll. Superlative. 9/10

Greg D. Smith